Karst Playscape opens for kids of all ages, abilities

A host of parents and their children took a moment from the play and chatter at the new Karst Playscape grounds Saturday, directing their attention to a green wing macaw named Bird.     

A woman in a turquoise bead necklace walked up to Bird and the small crowd, held hands with her husband and asked to pet him.

“You’re awful cute – you’re very cute,” she said, stroking Bird’s feathers.

“They can’t pet the bird because he sometimes bites,” Bird’s co-owner Joe Porowski warned the children reaching to pet him under their parents’ attentive gazes.

“But he doesn’t know he can fly,” Porowski said to the children.

The Karst Playscape, the first of its kind in Bloomington, had its grand opening Saturday at the Karst Farm Park on South Endwright Road near the Monroe County Airport.  

The Playscape is possible thanks to a $411,000 W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant with the Monroe County Parks and Recreation Department.

Kelli Wittmer of the Monroe County Parks and Recreation Department said the project was two years in the making and was built from the ground up by her and a small staff during that time – no contractors.  

The Playscape features a Splash Pad for families and waterproof wheelchairs for those who are chairbound and want to participate in the fun.

The Playscape will include a complete playground and a “nature and play area,” said
volunteer Ladi Terry, who was running an “idea station” for anyone wanting to contribute ideas to the growth of Karst Playscape.

The facilities are accessible to people of all ages and abilities.

A rainbow-colored ribbon was cut in honor of the opening. The sprinklers of the Splash Pad were turned on, and children wearing brightly colored beads and bathing suits danced in the water with one another.

Three men dressed in pirate garb called The Pirate Band played tunes, from “Yo ho ho and a Bottle of Rum” to a song about commercialism in the 17th century, after the
ribbon-cutting.

Bloomington resident Nicole Fry came with her 2-year-old daughter Elaina, who was running around in the sprinklers.

“She can’t swim, so this is great for her,” Fry said. “A big pool can be overwhelming for smaller children.”

Fry said her daughter had open-heart surgery at just four days old and is unable to talk.   

She is grateful for the creation of the Karst Playscape because Elaina is limited to what she can do because of her condition.

“She just wants to be able to do what other kids like her are doing,” Fry said, as screaming children circled a woman in a sundress eating a lemon snow cone.
Bloomington resident Yael Ksander’s said her only complaint about the Playscape
was the need for more shade.

So, she patiently soaked up the sun on the lot in front of the stage where The Pirate Band played as her son Jarno circled the premises, growling and wielding a plastic pirate sword and donning an eye patch.

“He’s gonna be four this month,” Ksander said when he returned to her from his
adventure.

Jarno plopped down on Ksander’s lap.

“I took him to a Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland and he’s been obsessed ever since,” she said.

For Ksander, the opening of the Karst Playscape means something different to her.

She said it is just another example of Bloomington’s dedication to green space, “improving the integral quality of everyone’s lives.”

And the bonus is spending quality time with children and families of the community, thus bringing the community together.

“We spend whole weekends at events like this,” Ksander said.   

Marie DeWolf, a physical therapist for Bloomington Hospital, volunteered her time to
facilitate the development of the park.

DeWolf smiled as she looked around at the playing children.

“This is teaching kids it’s OK to be different,” she said. “You shouldn’t be limited by what you can do, no matter what level of ability you have.”